Cellphones, batteries and connecting cables aren't the only things up for grabs as RadioShack's going-out-of-business sale winds down. The company also has millions of customer names and emails at its disposable, and, with that information, a sizeable amount of potentially valuable consumer data.

Many of the larger e-commerce players, such as Amazon, eBay and Yahoo, are dropping their online support platforms designed for small business partners. As a result, smaller retailers seem to be looking elsewhere for better e-commerce support.

Cisco Systems is warning of a new breed of malware technology, nicknamed PoSeidon, that targets point-of-sale systems. This is bad news for retailers that are still reeling from the many data breaches of recent history, such as those that hit Target, Home Depot, Staples and Supervalu.

Retail technology is among the hottest topics in the tech world, but is still in its infancy. This was made exceedingly clear after a recent trip to SXSW Interactive, where sessions and presentations about retail technology in general, and mobile retail in particular, took center stage.

Kirkland's Home, a 337-store home decor retailer in 35 states, has implemented a customized advanced fashion assortment program that will improve its merchandise financials, location and item planning.

Target Corp. has proposed a $10 million settlement of a class action lawsuit regarding the high-profile 2013 data breach that compromised the personal and credit card information of as many as 110 million people, according to court records.

Instacart is expanding in the Philadelphia market through its expanded partnership with A&P-owned SuperFresh stores. The online grocery delivery service will offer delivery of all the retailer's products, including those in the natural, international, prepared foods and private label categories.

Facebook has added a payments feature to its Messenger app, although its purpose is somewhat different from Apple Pay and others designed for use at the point-of-sale. In keeping with its mission to facilitate communications between "friends," the Facebook payment system is peer-to-peer and free, enabling the half billion Facebook users to send money to each other through Messenger after linking a Visa or MasterCard debit card to their account.

The mass market is still recovering from its latest bout with "The Bright Shiny Object Syndrome." It comes down with this fever every time a new technology product catches its fancy. The symptoms are excessive hype, excitement and preoccupation until the next hot thing comes along.

In a move that will expand its capabilities in the Internet of Things for business uses, Amazon has acquired 2lemetry, a startup that has developed a platform to track and manage IP-enabled machines and other connected devices.

Offering more clarification in the problem of Apple Pay fraud, The New York Times has reported that the problem started with the big banks' rush to participate in the service. This mostly confirms the original source of the report of Apple Pay fraud, Cherian Abraham, mobile commerce and payments lead specialist at Experian Global Consulting, who reported the issue on his Drop Labs blog.

While twice as many companies were validated as compliant during their initial compliance review in 2014 compared to 2013, nearly 80 percent of all businesses fail their interim Payment Card Industry compliance assessment leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to Verizon's 2015 PCI Compliance Report.

Walmart saw an 18.4 percent increase in digital coupon events on Walmart.com in 2014, according to data released last week by Marx, a Kantar Media solution. Walmart also enhanced its consumer promotion activity with a 15.7 percent increase in Free Standing Insert (FSI) promotion pages.

Barneys New York has partnered with omnichannel personalization provider RichRelevance to apply machine learning to customer experience and marketing. The goal is to help ensure that online shoppers are exposed to the specific products and brand stories they are most interested in. Working with RichRelevance, Barneys enhanced the customer journey by enabling product discovery beyond collaborative filtering.

THE LIBRARY: WEBINAR

Join David Birnbaum, Vice President, Learning of Century 21 University and Vitaly Shter, Director Product Marketing, Kaltura to see current trends and best practices in online video for enterprise learning and training and to see how video can cut costs and improve learning results. Register today!